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Zandile Lorraine Khumalo told the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that when Senzo Meyiwa’s wife Mandisa Mkhize arrived to the Botshelong Hospital in Vosloorus after the Bafana Bafana captain was shot dead, she attacked her sister Kelly Khumalo.
Zandile is the third witness among those who were present when Meyiwa was shot during an alleged home invasion at the home of his girlfriend and musician Kelly in October 2014.
She said in court that Mandisa arrived at the hospital after Kelly had bid her child’s father farewell.
“Both of us entered the room in which he was lying. Kelly spoke to him. I cannot remember what she was saying exactly, but she kissed him on his forehead and removed his earrings and watch while speaking to him,’’ she said.
When they left the room, she said people started arriving, including Orlando Pirates players and their partners.
“Mandisa also arrived. I didn’t know if she was the wife, but I know she was Senzo’s partner. It was Mandisa with her friends, and they went to Kelly and assaulted her.
“As she busy was fighting Kelly, Mandisa kept saying ‘you have killed him’ and we separated them.“
Zandile said she told Mandisa to calm down.
“I told Mandisa that this was not the time, and Senzo did not like hostility,” she said.
Meyiwa’s friend, Tumelo Madlala, who was among the people in the house during the fatal shooting, also described the chaotic scene after Mandisa had arrived at the hospital.
“I do not know if it was Mandisa or her friend, but there was a fight. I then saw the hair,” Madlala said at the time.
Madlala clarified that it was braids typically worn on top of hair.
On October 26, 2014, Meyiwa was slain while visiting Kelly at her family home in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
In connection with the incident, five men – Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya, Bongani Ntanzi, Mthobisi Mncube, Mthokoziseni Maphisa, and Sifokuhle Ntuli – face charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and possession of ammunition.
All of the defendants have pled not guilty.
According to the State, the footballer was slain during a failed house robbery.
Meyiwa, Kelly, Zandile, their mother Ntombi Khumalo (MaKhumalo), Longwe Twala, Meyiwa’s friends Mthokozisi Thwala and Tumelo Madlala, Kelly’s then 4-year-old son Christian, and Thingo, her daughter with Meyiwa were all present that day.
Meanwhile, due to the unavailability of the legal representatives involved in the case, the trial has been rescheduled for June 12.
Zandile’s testimony will be continued when the case is reopened.